In some production based industries, very dynamic product handling environments may be encountered. As an example, in a product packaging environment such as a food packaging environment, products may be moved along a conveyor system after preparation and then packaged and/or inspected. In some embodiments, sensors or various types of examining equipment may be placed at some point along the product handling line (e.g., proximate to products as they pass by on the conveyor system) so that products can be inspected or otherwise examined for compliance with quality control standards, packing standards, or for various other reasons. Products that fail inspection may be removed from the handling line so that they are not shipped to consumers in a deficient condition.
In some systems, responsive to one of the products being identified for rejection (e.g., based on the product failing inspection or failing to meet one or more criteria that are examined by a sensor or other inspection equipment that can inspect products being moved past such equipment on the conveyor belt), a rejection mechanism may operate to remove the identified product from the line. In some cases, the rejection mechanism may have to be carefully designed to accommodate a package or product of a given size. Given the premium on space in many production environments, it may be advantageous to have the rejection mechanism be made of a minimum size necessary to handle the package or product handled on the line. Thus, the equipment is generally engineered to have components sufficient to handle products of the size expected to be encountered in a given environment. However, particularly in cases where different size products are to be handled on the same product handling line, or where a line is to be converted (temporarily or permanently) to handle different products, it may be difficult or very costly to change the rejection mechanism. In some situations, business imperatives may dictate that the difficulty or expense is unavoidable to enable efficient operation of the line.